Käsekuchen

I have to confess. Until recently, I have never made a German cheesecake! Kind of crazy, I know, but I have my reasons. This is my aunt Margarete’s recipe – she makes the absolute best cheesecake and is always happy to bring one to every afternoon “Kaffee und Kuchen” family get-together. So, when I am in Germany, I honestly have no reason to ever make a cheesecake. And here in America it took me all these years to figure out that I can substitute Greek Yogurt for Quark. I do enjoy testing and improving recipes but sometimes I get too busy to feel up to the challenge of baking a cake three or more times to figure out how to make it work with American ingredients. Why not bake something tried and proven instead…?

German cheesecake is quite a bit different from the American version. It appears light and airy, but believe me, that is a complete deception. Although it is certainly lighter than any American cheesecake. One of our young German family friends was absolutely shocked when he could not manage to eat more than one piece of the delicious raspberry swirled, chocolate cookie crusted, American cheesecake I made last summer, when he was visiting. And an 18 year old can probably put away two pieces of cake.

Well, I am excited to have learned how to make a German cheesecake with American ingredients that is maybe almost as good as my aunt’s. Almost. And since today is Three Kings Day, which completes Christmas in Germany, it adds a little piece of home to my day.